Indicator for duplicate-sales-slip files.



' H. MGGORMICK; INDICATOR FOR DUPLIGATE .SALES SLIP. PILES.

APPLICATION IILED'IEB. 16, 1905. l A

' Patented May 9, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

f 5 sz E* f H. MUGURMIGK. INDICATOR POR'DUPLIGATE sALEs'zsLIP FILES.

APPLIOATION FILED PEB. 16., 1905.

Patented May 9, 1911.

'2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

"wvylj Il L IE SATES PATENT OFFICE.

AHORACE MCCORMICK, OF DES MOINES, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE COMPLETE BOOK-KEEPER CO., OF DES MOINES, IOWA, .A CORPORATION.

INDICATOR FOR DUPLICATE-SALES-SLIP FILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9, 1911.

Application filed February 16, 1905. Serial No. 245,827.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE MoCoRMrcK, of Des Moines, Polk county, Iowa,have 1nvented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators forDuplicate-Sales-Slip Files, of which the following is a specification.

In the use of a short account system a case or cabinet is providedwherein the sales books or iles are kept, each bearing a customers nameand containing duplicate sales slips whereon the customers account andthe daily balances appear. These cabinets are usually of wood andexposed to damage or destruction by lire or other means, and it iscustomary to take off, daily, the cash received from a customer and thebalance of the a-ccount into a book called a balance book that is keptfor that purpose and which can be easily placed in the merchants safe orvault at the close of a days business. The cabinets are made ofconsiderable size to accommodate a large number of sales books, and asit is only necessary for the bookkeeper to examine those bookscontaining accounts which have been changed during the day, by thepayment of cash or otherwise, it is desirable to provide some meanswhereby the bookkeeper, at a glance, can ascertain what files have beenremoved from the case and entries made therein and to avoid the waste oftime and labor in removing all the books.

The object, therefore, of my invention is to provide an indicatingdevice in connection with each book or file, by means of which theperson in charge of the balance book can, by glancing at the cabinet,readily determine which books have been removed during the day.

The invention consists generally in an indicating device arranged to beset automatically when the clerk removes the file from the case.

Further, the invention consists in mech-anism for locking eachindicating device in its open position.

Further, the invention consists in mechanism for simultaneouslyreturning all the indicating devices to their closed position in frontof the file in the case.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,Figure l is a front elevation of a portion of a tile case with myinvention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the front ofthe case illustrating the mechanism for operating the indicating devicesto return them to their normal position. Figs. 3 and l are detailsectional views of the indicator operating mechanism. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section through the casing showing one indicator in itsnormal position in front of the file and another' indicator swung to anindicating position at one side of the file. Fig. 6 is a detail view ofthe back side of an indicator showing the manner of supporting a nameplate thereon.

In the drawing, 2 represents a case or cabinet having pigeon holes orpockets 3 wherein the books or files forthe duplicate sale slips areplaced.

l represents one of the files having aname plate 5 in one end andprovided with the usual securing devices forthe sale slips, the end ofthe file being visible at the front of the case and easily accessiblefor removal or inspection.

6 represents a shaft having bearings 7 on the front of the case betweenthe vertical rows of pockets or pigeon holes therein. There are as manyof these shafts as there are vertical rows of pockets in the case. Atintervals upon each shaft I provide ratchet wheels 8, there being asmany of these wheels as there are pockets in the vertical row. Boxes 9are loosely mounted on said shaft and each incloses a ratchet wheel, andan indicator plate 10 is carried by each box and is arranged topartially close'the opening in the front of the contiguous pocket andprevent the removal or insertion of a file.

A spring pawl ll mounted on the box is arranged to bear on the teeth ofthe ratchet inclosed thereby, said teeth allowing the spring to slipover them and the indicator to be swung out to a position substantiallyat right angles to the front of the case, but preventing the indicatorplate from being returned to its normal position. Each of the indicatorsmay be moved to indicating position independently of all of the otherindicators, thereby permitting the removal of any file from the casewithout setting any of the indicators except the one over the pocketcontaining the le that is yto be removed. The indicator may be graspedby the hand of the clerk or operator and turned out to indicatingposition when the file holder may be removed from the cabinet or theindicator may be turned to indicating position automatically as the fileholder is removed from the case. lhen once an indicator has been set inthe indicating position it Will be impossible for the clerk to return itto its normal position, and the bookkeeper can, at a glance, determinewhich files have been removed from the case and What customers have madepurchases or payments on account during the day.

I prefer to provide a slot 12 in the indicating plate having on the backside clips or lugs 13 to hold a name plate 14 bearing the same name asthe name plate of the file for that pocket. This name plate on theindicator will be plainly visible and enables the Vclerk to easilylocate anyrcustomers file prior toits removal from the case and returnthe file to the proper pocket after the sale slip has been placedtherein. In case the clerk should fail to return the file to the casefor any reason, the bookkeeper noting from the position of the indicatorthat the tile has been removed, can readily determine to Which customerthe file belongs.

It is desirable in a device of this kind to provide some means forreturning all of the indicators simultaneously to their normal position.`I therefore provide gears 15 on the upper end of each of the shafts 6meshing Wit-h similar gears 16 on a horizontal shaft 17 mounted upon thetop of the case. When this shaft 17 is revolved the vertical shafts 6Will all be operated to close the indicators. The mechanism Will be sotimed that a quarter turn of the shaft 17 will move the indicators fromtheir indicating position to a normal position in front o-f the pockets.To lock the shaft 17 against premature or accidental movement, I securea disk 18 thereon having notches 19 in each quarter of itscircumference. A spring 2O is adapted to snap into one of these notchesand lock the disk and shaft 17 against revolution in either direction.The shaft 17 and the operating mechanism therefor is preferably inclosedWithin the top 22 of the casing, which may be suitably ornamented bymoldings to present a neat, finished appearance and completely concealthe shaft and gearing. A door 23 is provided in the front of the casinghaving a suitable lock 24, the key for Which Will be in the possessionof the bookkeeper, so that no unauthorized person can manipulate theindicators after they have once been set in their indicating position.At the close of the days business the bookkeeper, having made a recordof the sales, as indicated by the slips in the files Whose indicatorshave been moved by the clerk making the sale, Will unlock the door 23and revolve the shaft 17, returning all the indicator plates to theirnormal position across the front of the pockets. The indicators thathave not been moved during the day will not be affected by the operationof the shafts G, but those that have been set in an indicating positionwill be returned to their normal position.

I do not wish in this application to be confined to the particularmechanism I have shown and described for allowing the indicators to beset in an indicating position or the mechanism for returning theindicators to their normal position, as the same is capable of variousmodications by anyone skilled in the art Without departing from myinvention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for use in keeping accounts comprising a casing, a series offile-holders therein, each adapted to carry loose files, an indicatorfor each file-holder normally in a position from which it must be movedin order to Withdraw a file-holder from said casing, and mechanism forsimultaneously returning to their normal position all of the indicatorsthat have been moved to indicating position.

2. The combination, with a casing having a series of pigeon holes orpockets therein and provided with a series of file holders, ofindicating devices arranged in front of said pockets and adapted to beswung independently of one another to an indicating position at one sidethereof, and mechanism for simultaneously returning all of saidindicators to their normal position in front of said pockets,substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of Feb.1905.

HORACE MCGORMICK.

Witnesses:

WV. H. LONG, I-I. E. MATHEWS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

